Inset left: Dioblis Williams (Framingham Police Department). Inset right: Ja’Mir Jones (Ohio Attorney General’s Office). Background: Law enforcement’s body camera footage captures Dioblis Williams being questioned following the discovery of Ja’Mir Jones’s death (Columbus Division of Police/WSYX/YouTube).
A man on the run from authorities was spotted wearing a disguise about 750 miles away from where he was wanted for murder, law enforcement said.
According to Franklin County, Ohio, court documents, Dioblis Williams, aged 25, is facing murder charges. This case dates back over five years when 2-year-old Ja’Mir Jones was discovered deceased in a Columbus, Ohio, bathtub.
On March 25, 2020, the Columbus Division of Police officers were called to a residence in response to a report of a child drowning in a bathtub. Upon arrival, officers found Ja’Mir not breathing, as detailed by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. He was declared dead after being taken to a children’s hospital, with the case swiftly classified as a homicide.
Body camera footage from the local ABC station WSYX showed Williams communicating with the officers on the scene, allegedly stating that the child had drowned in the tub. However, authorities were uncertain of his account.
The autopsy concluded that Ja’Mir did not die from drowning; instead, his death was attributed to blunt force trauma to the abdomen. It was reported that he had bruising on his face, torso, and neck, but his lungs were clear.
An affidavit examined by the media indicated that after Ja’Mir soiled his diaper, Williams, who was reportedly in a relationship with Ja’Mir’s mother and acting as the boy’s babysitter that day, allegedly struck the child multiple times, leading to his death.
Fast forward more than five years and shift roughly 750 miles east — where the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) announced a warrant for the arrest of Williams after he was believed to be in the city of Framingham, Massachusetts.
On Aug. 27, at about 8:30 a.m., a K-9 officer with the Framingham Police Department was walking to a briefing when he “noticed a pair of individuals walking on the sidewalk, one of whom appeared to be wearing a wig,” the agency said.
Officers kept looking at the person and “came to the determination that the individual wearing the wig was indeed the male that the USMS and [Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section] were intending to arrest,” the police department said.
“Today’s arrest is a reminder that you can run, but you can’t hide,” acting U.S. Marshal Kevin W. Neal said following the arrest. “Mr. Williams thought that he could evade arrest and accountability by hiding in Massachusetts. I hope that today’s arrest brings us one step closer to justice for a young child whose life ended tragically.”
Video from WSYX showed a man said to be Williams sprinting from a cop, tripping, throwing something believed to be the wig off of his head, and then surrender to the officer. He had been formally charged with murder the week before.
The Framingham Police Department showed a picture of the suspect’s disguise, complete with a long reddish-blonde wig, black sunglasses, and what appears to be a big hair tie.
The disguise Dioblis Williams was allegedly wearing when law enforcement arrested him (Framingham Police Department).
“Hallelujah, thank the lord,” Ja’Mir’s great-grandmother told the Columbus TV station. “I’ve been praying for this for five years. Five long years. Since 2020, I’ve been praying for his capture because I knew that he did it.”
Williams was brought back to Ohio and arraigned on Friday on the murder charge. He has a preliminary hearing set for Sept. 19.
